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A mixed picture for for-profit colleges

A Kresge-supported report on for-profit colleges by the nonprofit organization Public Agenda surveyed employers, current undergraduates at for-profit colleges, alumni of for-profit colleges, and prospective students between the ages of 18 and 55.

The report, “Profiting Higher Education? What Students, Alumni and Employers Think About For-Profit Colleges,” also includes findings from focus groups with employers and adult prospective students.

The attitudes of each of these groups paint a mixed picture of for-profit colleges, with some strengths and a number of important cautions and criticisms. Specifically:

Current students are optimistic, yet concerned about their financial burden. Undergraduates at for-profit colleges say their schools allow them to efficiently complete their programs. They also praise their schools for giving effective guidance so they can stay on track (91 percent say this), having caring instructors (87 percent) and keeping class size small (85 percent). Current undergraduates are optimistic that their certificates or degrees will greatly improve their chances of finding good jobs. Still, 65 percent of these currently enrolled students consider their schools expensive and nearly half (47 percent) say they worry “a lot" about taking on too much debt.
In a parallel study, Public Agenda found that current for-profit students and their community college counterparts are equally satisfied with their schools on many quality measures and optimistic about the future payback of their degrees. At the same time, community college students have fewer financial concerns than for-profit undergraduates; 34 percent of community college students said they worry a lot about taking on too much debt and just 3 in 10 consider their schools expensive.

Alumni are less positive about the value of their education than current students. Although not quite as often as current undergraduates, alumni of for-profit colleges also praise their schools on many measures, including effective guidance (74 percent), caring instructors (77 percent) and small class sizes (81 percent). They are more pessimistic about the value of their degree. Just 37 percent of for-profit alumni say their degree was worth the price. And 4 in 10 say their schools were more concerned about making money than about educating students (only 20 percent of current for-profit students feel this way).

Prospective students considering for-profit colleges have distinct priorities. Adult prospective students considering a for-profit college are more likely to say that qualities like the availability of online classes, accelerated programs and hands-on support services are absolutely essential to their decisions.
“The research doesn’t establish whether there is a causal relationship between these individuals’ priorities and the schools they are favoring,” says Carolin Hagelskamp, director of research at Public Agenda and lead author of the report. “However, these findings, combined with the satisfaction we see among current for-profit undergraduates, certainly raise an important question that warrants further digging: Are for-profits better than public institutions at serving the needs of some students?”

Employers are still on the sidelines. About half of employers surveyed see few differences between for-profit and not-for-profit colleges. The other half typically view public institutions as superior on a number of counts. For example, 41 percent say public universities do a better job preparing students to work at their organizations. At the same time, employers lack knowledge of for-profit schools. Seventy-six percent haven’t heard or don’t know much about local for-profit schools in their own metropolitan area and 50 percent don’t have an opinion about large national for-profits like the University of Phoenix or DeVry. But nearly nine in 10 (87 percent) are familiar with and opinionated about their region’s public universities.

Students are unfamiliar with the term “for-profit college” – even when they’re attending one. The research reveals a startling lack of awareness among students about the concept of for-profit colleges; that’s in contrast to the energetic debate about the sector among experts, policymakers and the media. Though the words “for-profit college” are commonplace among the headlines in educational and mainstream media outlets, many students who are attending or graduated from a for-profit school say “nothing comes to mind” when they hear the term. Over half of adult prospective students considering attending a for-profit school say the same. Furthermore, a full 65 percent of current for-profit students and 63 percent of for-profit alumni are unsure whether their school is for-profit or not.

Leaders in higher education, the federal government and philanthropy invest time and effort to make comparative information about colleges more easily accessible and engaging so that students can make informed – and presumably better – decisions about their education. However, this research boosts findings from an earlier companion report indicating that these efforts are not connecting with students.

Students from for-profit schools – who often come from economically vulnerable populations – are, by in large, not comparative shoppers. For instance, just 39 percent of for-profit undergraduates and 32 percent of for-profit alumni had considered more than one school before they enrolled at their current institutions.

Hagelskamp says in contrast to policymakers’ idealistic vision of students comparing colleges with data on spreadsheets, “they rely on recommendations from friends and families and hear about schools through ads or because they pass by the schools on the street."

Among all adult prospective students, 64 percent say they have learned about colleges from TV commercials, billboards and other advertisements. Among those specifically considering a for-profit college, 75 percent say they learned about colleges through advertisements.

“If we’re really concerned about helping prospective students make well-informed decisions about college, we need to confront the realities from this research, meet these students where they are and figure out what we can do to make their selection habits more discerning,” Hagelskamp says.